Aerodynamics and weight definitely come into play here. Even the P90D Model S gets a highway rating of over 280 miles on a charge, compared to just 252.7 miles for the P90D X. So, if range is the most important factor for you, then the S has a significant advantage in all versions.

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Actually with its lowest Cd, the Model 3 will likely become the Tesla with the longest range when equipped with the larger battery pack. That will be exciting to see. It will sure have 300 miles but will it hit the 400 miles in some versions?

Well, I am not so sure with Tesla because in an interview of Elon Musk I saw back recently he said the Tesla could do a 500 miles car right now but that they didn’t do it because it would be inappropriate. That’s quiet strange but if they can do 500 right now, then 400 would be kind of easy. 400 miles would be a major tipping point for the market and would likely surprise Tesla even more than the Model 3 reservation numbers. I think they don’t quiet grasp what that 400 number mean to people, otherwise they would rush for it more fervently.

Well it would add 181 Kg of cells plus a bit of reinforcement, but that would still be only 10% of the present car weight. Since driving long distance is rather at higher speed the aero represent 75% of the energy and roll related to weight only 25%. With a 10% extra weight that would change the energy consumption per mile of only 2.5% which is negligible in regard to the 33% increase in battery energy.
To get that extra energy you can scavenge the frunck or other places but there is a better way in simply replacing the 18650 cells with 18870 cells. They would take the same surface area and only 22 mm more thickness which can be accommodated by adapting the suspension height. The 18870 cell is not produced but there is no reason why it couldn’t be. The result would be a 400 miles Model S 120D, right now instead of years away.

When you compare S with X, and the various battery sizes, the range does seem anomalous.
e.g. with the X the 75D has almost 20% less battery than 90D, but the 75D range penalty is well under 10%.
This doesn’t seem to correspond to the weight difference alone… and I’m not sure the same thing happens for the S.

I’m wondering if Tesla is gradually ending the practice of giving battery sizes as total battery size, and instead starting to quote available battery size… and so the 75D could actually be 75kwh available, whereas the 90D still quotes the total size.

I agree that something seems funny with the 75D rating – I don’t see how it can be so close to the 90D with 15 kWh less (nominal) energy available… at about 4 km/kWh, that should yield about 60 km less range, not 30 km.

Adding the 60 and 75D to their lineup is a good move forward for Tesla. Most car makers offer a bracket of vehicle power. For example, the BMW 3 series has a set of engine offerings that roughly matches up with Tesla’s lineup:

S60 ~= 320
S75D ~= 328
S90D ~= 340
P90D ~= M3

BMW sells the 328’s the most, because it is a perfectly good car if you don’t want to pay extra for extra performance. The 75D now fills that slot for Tesla, where they now have a perfectly good middle of the line-up which can bulk up sales numbers.